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Ted Cruz hands out water in damage control photo-op, slammed for 'skipping quarantine' after Cancun fiasco

According to the CDC guidelines, those who travel internationally are recommended to stay home and self-quarantine for a full seven days after travel

Republican Senator Ted Cruz is once again under fire -- this time for not quarantining -- after drawing flak for an ill-timed trip to Cancun with his family as his home state, Texas, battled a severe winter storm that left many without access to electricity and water. Cruz returned to Texas on Thursday, February 18, and initially blamed his daughters, adding that he wanted to be a good dad, before revising it, and admitting that the trip was "obviously a mistake".

Now, the Texas Senator has gone into damage control mode and took to social media to share photos of him allegedly helping out with the relief work -- as he was admonished for not doing so when it was first reported that he went to Cancun -- as he was pictured patting a woman's arm and carrying a pack of water bottles to a car. He tweeted the images with the caption, "#TexasStrong."

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However, Cruz's tweet does not seem to have had the intended effect on his constituents as many took to social media to call out the seemingly staged photos. One user tweeted, "You're a fraud, a phony, a disgrace. You should resign. You're also a seditious traitor who should be prosecuted for inciting the insurrectionist assault on the Capitol."

Another wrote, "Hey man, do you think people were born yesterday? You’re clearly only doing this because of the backlash and likely because among the backlash people correctly pointed out all the good AOC and Beto have been doing while you were fleeing from your responsibilities, like a bitch."

Both Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Beto O'Rourke had spearheaded fundraising efforts to help storm-battered Texans. Ocasio-Cortez traveled to Texas and helped fill boxes at the Houston Food Bank with Democratic Texas Representatives Sylvia Garcia and Sheila Jackson Lee, and raised more than $4 million in a few days. O'Rourke also continued to help with relief efforts.

Others, however, took a different approach in criticizing the Texas Republican Senator, focusing on his flouting CDC guidelines on quarantine and stepping out in the public just two days after his return. According to the CDC guidelines, those who travel internationally are recommended to stay home and self-quarantine for a full seven days after travel and get a viral test three to five days after travel. If the traveler does not get tested, the CDC recommends to self-quarantine for ten days after travel.

One user tweeted, "Apparently, #CancunCruz also fried his brain a little bit in Mexico. Hey, @tedcruz! What kind of idiot FINALLY wears a mask, but then goes up close and shakes peoples hands?" Another wrote, "Why are you touching that woman & why aren't you in quarantine?" A user opined, "Went to Mexico , was supposed to quarantine. Didnt. Flew back, was supposed to quarantine. Didn’t Wasn’t supposed to shake hands. Did. Ignores the rules, skips quarantine, potentially infects people, all for a photo op. We Texans are better off when you do nothing, @tedcruz."